JERUSALEM, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attended on Tuesday an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) exercise that is ongoing in north part of the country, local newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on its website.

The report said Olmert visited the Northern Command headquarters alongside security and military officials and listened to the army's preparedness in various scenarios.

The IDF launched the four-day military operation Sunday in the north Israeli part of Galilee. This is the largest drill since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, local newspaper Ha'aretz said.

A similar drill was held a month before the Second Lebanon War and both list the participation of ground, air and naval forces as well as intelligence and S4 units.

The objective of the exercise is "to synchronize the decision making process between the various military bodies in the midst of a crisis situation," Ha'aretz said, adding that troops would only be partially mobile and no live fire would be used.

The maneuver was originally planned to take place also in the Golan Heights, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, but the IDF decided to cancel the field exercise in Golan in order to "avoid unnecessary tension" with Syria.

In July, the IDF carried out one of the largest infantry exercises in recent years in the Golan Heights region, training for conflict with Syria and Hezbollah. Syria did not accept Israel's claims that the maneuvers of its forces on the Golan Heights were "for training purposes only."